Buzz
The remains of those who came before us often lie just beneath the surface, hidden away in forgotten graves. As urban landscapes evolve, these long-buried sites are uncovered when a subway, building, or other infrastructure breaks the ground. Here are eight such burial locations revealed in this unexpected way.
1. REMAINS OF SOLDIERS DISCOVERED IN ROME'S FUTURE SUBWAY
The construction of Rome's subway has uncovered treasures ranging from a 2nd-century home adorned with mosaics and frescoes to a 2300-year-old aqueduct. The San Giovanni station, set to open in 2018, will showcase artifacts discovered during its excavation, including Renaissance-era ceramics and the remains of a 1st-century agricultural fountain.
During extension work on Line C in 2016, a 2nd-century military barracks with 39 rooms, believed to have been used by Emperor Hadrian's army, was uncovered, along with a mass grave containing 13 skeletons. These individuals may have been part of the prestigious Praetorian Guard, who protected the Roman emperor. Investigations are still underway, although plans to integrate the barracks into the station's design are in place. The station's opening is delayed as archaeological discoveries continue to impede its progress.
2. AFRICAN-AMERICAN GRAVES BENEATH A NEW YORK OFFICE BUILDING
In 1991, while constructing a federal office building in Lower Manhattan, workers discovered a colonial-era burial site. The graves, dating back to the 1690s, had been lost due to landfills and urban development, but were later identified as part of the African burial grounds that existed outside the old city during the 17th century.
Due to restrictions on burial in white cemeteries, free and enslaved Africans and African Americans created their own burial grounds, with estimates of 10,000 to 20,000 graves. Thanks to persistent grassroots activism, including protests against ongoing construction, the site is now honored as the African Burial Ground National Monument, which opened in 2006.
This isn't the only African burial ground to be buried under New York's development: The Second African Burial Ground, from the 18th and 19th centuries, lies beneath what is now Sarah D. Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side. Additionally, a 17th-century slave burial ground discovered by construction workers at a bus depot in East Harlem is awaiting a planned memorial.
3. PLAGUE VICTIMS DISCOVERED IN LONDON'S TUBE SYSTEM
Deep beneath London, the ongoing Crossrail commuter rail project has unearthed hidden layers of the city's history, revealing a trove of fascinating artifacts. Among these, archaeologists have found two mass graves: one containing 13 skeletons of individuals who likely perished during the 14th century Black Death (with DNA traces of the plague bacterium *Yersinia pestis* still present in their teeth); the other, a larger site with 42 skeletons of victims of the 1665 Great Plague. The examination of the Great Plague remains, unearthed by the Museum of London Archaeology in 2015, also showed traces of the disease in their teeth. (Fortunately, the bacteria is no longer active, so there’s no need to retrieve your plague doctor beak mask.)
While tales of 'plague pits' have circulated for years—some urban myths even suggest that the London Underground had to curve around these supposed piles of bodies—studies of the sites indicate that great care was actually taken with the deceased. The bodies were placed in individual coffins, providing some dignity even in the context of such a hurried mass burial.
4. EARLY PHILADELPHIANS BURIED UNDER A FUTURE APARTMENT COMPLEX
Sometimes, to paraphrase *Poltergeist*, it's not uncommon to move only the headstones when relocating a cemetery, leaving bones and coffins behind (digging up the dead is rarely a pleasant task). This seemed to be the case in March 2017 when a graveyard was uncovered at a construction site on Arch Street in Philadelphia. The dozens of coffins discovered are believed to belong to the First Baptist Church Burial Ground, established in 1707 and allegedly relocated to Mount Moriah Cemetery in 1859. The Mütter Institute led a crowdfunding campaign for the analysis and reburial of the remains, and volunteer archaeologists gathered at the site, working tirelessly to map the grounds and exhume the remains of over 100 individuals. Their remains were meticulously analyzed.
Archaeologists later uncovered the remains of more than 400 individuals at the site as construction continued in other areas. Work at the location is ongoing, alongside the grassroots-funded research on the bones (you can follow the team's progress through the Arch Street Bones Project website).
5. WOMEN AND THEIR GOLDEN WREATHS AT A GREEK SUBWAY SITE
In 2013, during subway construction in Thessaloniki, Greece, the grave of a woman buried around 2300 years ago was discovered. The Early Hellenistic woman had been buried with a gold olive branch wreath.
This wasn't the first such burial uncovered during subway construction with a regal adornment. In 2008, another Hellenistic woman was found with four gold wreaths and gold earrings shaped like dog heads, all signs of wealth and high status—though her grave was partially damaged by a sewage pipe.
6. ANCIENT REMAINS FOUND ALONG A CANADIAN PIPELINE ROUTE
While digging a trench for a gas pipeline in Saskatchewan, Canada, a contractor noticed bone fragments in the soil, which were later identified as 1000-year-old human remains.
Construction was paused so that First Nations elders and archaeologists could assess the site. Ultimately, the pipeline company chose to tunnel deeper to avoid disturbing the ancient graves.
This was just one of many instances where major infrastructure projects have intersected with pre-colonial burial grounds. For example, in 2017, roadwork in Duluth, Minnesota, disturbed graves when the state's department of transportation failed to conduct an artifact survey before starting construction.
7. HEADLESS VIKINGS DISCOVERED IN THE MIDDLE OF A PROPOSED ROAD
In 2009, near Weymouth in Dorset, England, archaeologists uncovered a mass grave containing over 50 young men during a survey before road construction. All of the individuals had been violently killed, their bones showing signs of multiple blows from a sharp weapon, and their heads had been severed. In 2010, scientists identified them as Vikings by radiocarbon dating the bones to between 910 and 1030 CE, a time when the English fought Viking invaders. Isotope analysis of their teeth suggested Scandinavian origins. Due to their lack of clothing and similar manner of death, it is believed they were executed captives. Their remains are now part of the Dorset County Museum.
8. IMPOVERISHED CHICAGOANS BURIED UNDER A LUXURY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
Beneath a neighborhood on Chicago's Far Northwest Side lie the remains of approximately 38,000 individuals, including the destitute inmates of the Cook County almshouse and patients from the county insane asylum. This area, known as Dunning, was infamous for its dismal institutions, so much so that in 1889, a judge called it a 'tomb for the living.' The 20-acre site also housed a potter's field for the indigent and unidentified, as well as the remains of over 100 victims of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
The potter's field came to light in 1989 during the construction of luxury homes. While laying sewer pipes, workers discovered a remarkably preserved body, complete with a visible handlebar mustache. The remains were relocated to a site now known as Read-Dunning Memorial Park, providing these individuals with their first recognition in the city.
